A documentary portraying Bedford’s role in the largest air, land and sea operation in military history is making its way to the big screen at the nation’s capital.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has announced a special screening on June 2 on Capitol Hill of “Bedford: The Town They Left Behind.”

After four years of shooting and researching, the Johnson Group in McLean made the film that tells of Bedford’s D-Day sacrifice. It lost 19 men in the first wave and two more in the days after the invasion.

The heavy total led to the decision to build the National D-Day Memorial, which opened in 2001 in the city of Bedford.

The 79-minute movie includes photos and interviews with local survivors, including Ray Nance, who died last month at age 94 and was the last of the Bedford Boys. Roy Stevens, who died in 2007 and lost a twin brother during the invasion, also is in the film.

On April 22, the day of Nance’s funeral in Bedford, Warner paid him a tribute on the Senate floor, calling Nance “an American hero.”

In addition to Bedford residents, especially those instrumental in the making of the film, Warner has invited the Virginia congressional delegation, members of the U.S. Senate, employees of the Pentagon and the head of the Army National Guard to the screening, said Kevin Hall, Warner’s press secretary.

The screening will be the first time Warner has seen the film, Hall said, and he will speak at the event. The timing for the screening also ties in with the 65th anniversary of D-Day on June 6.

“It all fell into place as a special thing to do,” Hall said.

There are more than 400 seats available at the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center’s Congressional Auditorium, where the screening will take place.

On Veterans Day 2008, the Johnson Group held a private screening for about 700 people at Liberty High School in Bedford.

Bedford Mayor Skip Tharp was among those in attendance. He gave the film a “thumbs up” in a 2008 phone interview.

“I thought they captured what Bedford went through and the magnitude of what we lost,” Tharp said. “I came away feeling proud.”

The documentary has been shown this year at several film festivals, including the G.I. Film Festival in Washington, D.C., which was held earlier this month.

Paula Sweeney of the Johnson Group said it is working to have DVDs on sale by Veterans Day. The National D-Day Memorial and the Bedford visitor center will carry them, she said, and they also will be available online.